Scriabin produced only two sets of piano pieces in the year 1906: this effort and the Three Pieces, Op. 52. But he was also working on one of his most important orchestral works, the Poem of Ecstasy (1905-1908). All his compositions at this time, to one degree or other, reflected his increasing immersion in mysticism and philosophy. The music in this set exhibits his deepening expressive language and the evolution of his style toward more radical levels, a process that would culminate in Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, and his late piano compositions.

The first of the four works here is "Fragilité," an Allegretto rife with that Scriabinesque ethereality and otherworldly atmosphere. At the outset this piece might well convey to the uninitiated ear a sense of cocktail-lounge music gone awry, with its soothing manner and aerial sweetness all cosmically souring in such deft style. The second piece, "Prélude," carrying the marking Lugubre, is indeed lugubrious in its dark chords and glacial pacing. The obsessive, late Lisztian theme is quirky, almost pretending to be sad rather than expressing actual sadness.

The next piece, "Poème ailé," is relatively bright in its lively, somewhat chipper manner. Again, however, Scriabin shows his quirkiness in the erratic flow of the music and the disjointed jauntiness of its playful elements. The last entry here is "Danse languide," an example once more of the title being well suited to the music. Languid it is, indeed, in its January-molasses gait, but also deftly atmospheric in its ghostly mists floating above the strange dance.

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